Land Information New Zealand’s Data Service now supports the Open Geospatial Consortium (OCG) GeoPackage format for file downloads.

The LINZ Data Service (LDS) is a world-leading open data service providing free and open access to New Zealand government-held geodetic, hydrographic, cadastral, topographic and place name data.

LDS Manager Jeremy Palmer says the release of OCG GeoPackage on the service comes as part of a wider initiative to support the work LINZ is doing to develop a National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

“Enabling government agencies, businesses and the community to share their location-based data in ways that allow others to easily find and reuse is a priority for LINZ.

“Releasing OCG GeoPackage on the data service is a great example of LINZ taking a leadership role by supporting the use of OGC open standards and providing open access to New Zealand data”.

OCG GeoPackage is based on SQLite-based format and is a modern alternative to formats like Shapefile.

It efficiently stores and transfers geographic vector features and ANZLIC/ISO metadata, and is a great option for mobile application development as it can be used directly by mobile devices such as smartphones.

LINZ also recently released New Zealand’s most current publicly-owned aerial imagery data, covering 95 percent of New Zealand on the LINZ Data Service. This high quality imagery is freely available for download under a creative commons open licence.

About Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)LINZ is the New Zealand government agency responsible for land titles, geodetic and cadastral survey systems, topographic information, hydrographic information, managing Crown property and a variety of other functions. LINZ is also responsible for leading the New Zealand Geospatial Strategy.

The LINZ Data Service provides free and open access to New Zealand’s fundamental land and seabed datasets under a creative commons open licence, providing users with 11 different file download options and OGC web service access.